In existing business management software systems, such as information management, document management, and customer relationship management systems, an integration gap exists between external objects and the business management systems. In particular, there is a disconnect between external objects and the management systems. For example, while it is possible to import e-mail into document management systems, the assignment of the imported e-mail to the right business object is a manual or semi-manual process, as existing systems require a user to manually identify documents. Likewise, while a user can call up information about the sender of an e-mail from an information management system, the recognition of the sender is not automatic.